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AUTOMATIC GAR BRAKE. l

J. P.'SEAWELL 8v J. H. OHARA.

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AUTOMATIC GAR BRAKE.y

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J. P. SEAWELL 8v J. H. OHARA.

` AUTOMATIC GAR BRAKE.

No. 447,207. IPfitelflteafFeb. 24.1891.

5': l '"0 11 AAJ :i r f El .LL Q5' Q5 Wb'messes: Inventors:

. w Jmfm A, @Qms UNITED STATES JESSE P. SEAWELL, OF OLARKSBURG,

MISSOURI, AND JOHN H. OHARA, OF

NEW YORK, N.. Y.

AUTOMATIC CAR-BRAKE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 447,207, dated February 24, 1891.

` Application filed July 5, 1890. Serial No. 357,863. (No model.)

To all whom t may col/tecra,.-`

Be it known that we, JESSE P. SEAWELL, residing at Clarksburg, in the county of Moniteau, State of Missouri, and JOHN H. OHARA, residing at New York city, inthe county of New York, State of New York, citizens of the United States, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Car-Coupling Brakes, of which the following is a specification, referencebeing had therein to the accompanying drawings.

Our invention relates to devices for automatically applying the vbrakes of railway-cars when th ey are crowding against each other or against the locomotive while running down hill or at a greater speed than said locomotive; and the objects of our invention are to combine with the car-bumper one or more airF cylinders provided with air-escape openings and pistons and piston-rods connected'with said bumpers and with the brake mechanism. Ve attain these objects by the construction illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a side View of a portion of the car provided with an ordinary draw-head and an improved draw-head, both draw-heads being in this case united together and provided with piston-rods and pistons in the air-cylinder constructed in accordance with our invention. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section of the air-cylinders with one of the pistons and its piston-rod in section. Fig. 3 is a top view of the lower draw-head, showing its jawclosing springs and uncoupling-levers. Fig. 4 is a top view of the brake-operating levers connected to the transom of a truck and to the piston-rod of the lower air-cylinder. Fig. 5 is an end view of the lower transom and a side view of the levers connected thereto.

In said drawings, A represents the body of a car, to the bottom of which is secured adjacent to its end a strap B, that supports the outer ends of the draw-heads. To the inner end of said draw-heads are secured by pivotpins C D the piston-rods C D, that have pistons C2 D2 in the air-cylinders yCs D3. The upper draw-head c carries a link c2 and linkpin c3 of ordinary construction; but said link c2 is retained in horizontal position by means of a dat spring c4,which'has one end secured at c5 to the draw-head and the opposite end pressing upon the inner end of the link c2. The lower draw-head consists of two levers d2, pivoted together upon a vertical bolt cl3, which also in this case connects said draw-head d to the draw-head c. Said two draw-heads are furthermore united together by a bolt d4, that passes through the iiattened extended portion DGof the piston-rod D, through the drawhead c, and through a parting-blockd5 between them.

The lower oouplinglink consists of upper and lower rectangular plates E, having their ends slightly flaring. center by a diamond-shaped block e, bolted to said plates, and adjacent to their ends by triangular blocks e2, also bolted to said plates, with one of their points facing toward the end of the coupling to facilitate their engagement with the beveled hooked ends d of the levers cl2, and with one of their faces to ward the central block e for engagement with the inner iiat face of the hooks of the levers d2.

To retain the jaws vof the levers d2 normally closed, springs f are made to press the uncoupling-levers F of said jaws, as shown in Fig. 3. The levers F are pivoted at a point about one-third of their length to any suitable stationary support-as, for example, to a flat bar Fz-retained in a horizontal position at a suitable height below the bottom of the car and secured to said bottom. The inner end of each lever F carries a vertical pin that passes through a slot d5, made lengthwise of the inner end of the levers d?, and the outer end of each lever F extends to a point in easy reach of the brakemen, either at the end or side of the car.l The springs f have also one end secured to a stationary support-as, for example, to a bar or brace f2, secured to the supporting-strap B of the draw-headseand bear about the middle of their length against fulcrum-pins f3, while their inner ends bear against the inner end of the levers F. y

The brake-shoes G are preferably located so as to bear, as shown, against the front side of one of the wheels G2 and against the rear side of the other wheel of a car-truck and are mounted upon brake-beams G5, that are They are united at the suspended from the bottom of the car by Straps G4 in the usual manner. To operate the brake-shoes their brake-beams are con-A nected by means of rods g with levers c2, Fig. 4, at points equidistant from the pivotbolt g3 of said levers, and said pivot-bolt is secured to the initier side of the bottom trausom II of the car. The inner ends of the levers g2 are pivoted to a plate g4, that is retained loosely connected to the under side of the bottom transom Il by means of a bolt g5, passing through a longitudinal slot in said plate g4, so that when the plate g4 is recipro cated in the direction ofthe arrow 2, Fig. 5, the brake-shoes will be applied against the peripher f of the wheels; but to normally retain the shoes from the wheels the plate g4 has secured thereto a leaf-spring( the ends of which bear against the outer ends of the levers g2. To reciprocate the plate g4 one end thereof has lugs carrying a pin g2, to which is pivoted the lower end of a lever 7L, that is pivoted about the middle of its length to a bearing 71.2, secured to the side of the upper transom H2 ofthe car, and as springs H3 are placed between the upper and the lower transoms the lower end of the lever h is longitudinallyT slotted where it receives the pin g7 of the plate g4. To force the upper end of the lever 7L automatically toward the transom H2, and thus apply the brakes when the cars are crowding against each other, the upper end of the lever 71, is pivoted to the outer end of the piston-rod I of the piston I2, which is placed in one end of the cylinder D3, so that when this piston and the pistonerod I are moved in the direction of the arrow 3, Fig. 2, the brake is applied to the wheels of the car.

The cylinders C3 D3 are firmly secured to the bottom ot' the car. Upon the piston-rod C is placed a strong coiled spring C4 between the piston C2 in the cylinder C3 and one head of said cylinder, said spring acting as a drawhead spring for the device. Upon the pistonrod C is also placed on the opposite side of the piston C2 a lighter coil-spring C5 to keep the piston C2 about half-way of the length of the cylinder, as shown in Fig. 1. Said piston is then in its normal position with the car standing still and brake-shoes away from the Wheels. Vhen the car is pulled, the piston C2 occupies the position shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2, and the piston D2 occupies the position shown by dotted lines in said figure. Air is then free to pass from the atmosphere into the cylinder D3 between the pistons D2and I2, as the piston-rod D is tubular for a portion of its length and has an opening (Z6 across it, and when in the dotted position said opening CZ is beyond the outer end of the packing-box D4 of said piston-rod; but when the draw-heads of two cars are pressed together the piston D2 is forced toward the middle of the cylinder D2, and while this action is taking place the opening d in the piston-rod is tightly closed by the packing in the packing-box D4, and the air in the cylinder D3 between the pistons D2 and 12, having no way to escape,

forces thepiston l2 and its rod I in the direc-l tion of the arrow 3 and applies the brakes. The air between the pistons D2 I2 is not compressed only by the advance of the piston D2, but also by an additional supply compressed and expelled by the piston C2 from the cylinder C3 into the space between the pistons D2 and I2. The interior of the cylinders C2 and and D2 are placed in communication by a pipe (Z7, placed on the outside thereof, and said pipe has a three-way cock (Z9, controlled by a horizontal branch or hollow rod d2, that extends under the car to a suitable point near the sides thereof, where it is provided with a handle h4, by which it can be opened to admit or to release air between the pistons D2 I2 and render the brakes inoperative, as when lit is desired to back one or more cars. Then the piston D2 has about reached the middle of the length of the cylinder D2,the pressure of air between the pistons D2 I2 will gradually diminish as it escapes through the hollow piston-rod D and its opening d6 into the chamber back of the piston D2, and thence to the atmosphere through a small vent-opening i inthe end ot' the cylinder. The opposite end ot' the cylinderD3 has a larger vent-opening ft2 for the escape ot' air from in front of the piston I2. The cylinder C3 has also small air-vents 17;. The length of time that the compressed air will act upon the pistons D2 12 can be regulated by the length given to the packing-box D4, as while the opening (Z6 in the piston-rod D is within the packing the air between said pistons remains under full pressure, and the brakes remain applied against the wheels.

Although the car is shown provided with an ordinary draw-head in connection with the lower improved draw-head, and that said draw-h eads are connected together by the bolts d2 d4, the upper draw-head may be dispensed with after a sufficient number of cars have been provided with the improved draw-head, and the upper piston-rod C can be connected tothe flat bar D6 of the lower piston-rod D,as shown, by means of a tlat metal bar or plate K, that has one end secured to the piston-rod C and the other end to the flat extension D6 of the piston-rod D. The outer end ot' the bar K is bent down in a hooked form or head that abuts against the end of the flat extension D6; but said hooked head is also adapted to receive the downwardly-ilanged end ot the coupling-plate E and transfer any pressure that may be brought to bear upon it to the two pistonrods and into the aircylinders forming the main feature of my improvement. By this construction the locomotive can back quickly against the cars without danger of damaging th em,as the draw-heads are attached to the pistons ot the air-cylinders, and the air in the air-cylinders will act as a cushion for the cars. Said air-cylinders are not under the control of the engineer on the engine, but their pistons are operated automatically. In downgrades the pressure of each car against the IOO IIO

IIS

forward one will act against the piston in the air-cylinders and set the brakes on the cars.

Having now fully described our invention, we claiml. In combination with the draw-head and brakes of a car, an air-holding cylinder secured to said car and within said cylinder, a piston and a piston-rod connectedto the drawhead, and a second piston and piston-rod connected with the brakes.

2. In combination with the draw-head and brakes of a car, an air-holding cylinder secured to said car and having pistons therein and a second cylinder and piston therein automatically operated by the draw-head and by the air within said cylinders.

8. In combination with the draw-head and brakes of a car, an air-holding cylinder secured to said car and a packing-box attached to one end of said cylinder, a piston having a laterally-perforated hollow piston-rod passing through said packing-box and automatically operated by the draw-head, and a second piston and piston rod connected with the brakes.

4. The combination of a draw-head and brakes of a car, air holding cylinders secured to said car, pistons in said cylinders and having their piston-rods connected to said draw-head, a tubular connection between said cylinders, and a piston and piston-rod connected with the brakes.

In testimony whereof we affix oursignatures in presence of two witnesses.

JESSE P. SEAWELL. JOHN H. OHARA. Witnesses to signature of J esse P. Seawell:

GEORGE J. RHODES, JOHN M. RHODES. Vitnesses to signature of John H. OHara:

J AMES E. PURNELL, A. T. MAEIX. 

